Above, a counter-protest by students at Duke University supporting the notion that "Tibet belongs to China, andï»¿ will always belong to China."

A Chinese student at Duke who participated in pro-Tibet protests on campus -- after befriending her Tibetan dorm-mate -- has become the target of brutal online and offline attacks. Thousands of nationalist Chinese thugs (some claiming to be Duke students) see her actions as "traitorous," and have threatened her with personal attacks in comment threads and, apparently, in person.

Online, the bullies have posted her photograph, her US phone number, Chinese identity card number, her parents' address and home number in China. Offline, her parents' home in Qingdao is said to have been attacked with rocks, and her parents are now in hiding.

John Kennedy of the Global Voices blog has posted some of the comments and threats to her and her family here. (coverage also here, thanks Nick)

National security advisor Stephen Hadley speaks on ABC about the Olympics and how it relates to the Tibet situation. He calls Tibet "Nepal." The kicker is that George Stephanopoulos does not catch the gaffe even after it is repeated 8 times.

Kudos for Ms. Jardin for bringing this to our attention. I had a brief conversation with a friend, a Chinese national, and he was pretty dismissive of Tibetan grievances as well.

The Chinese are fiercely nationalistic, as befits a great nation. Their greatness also encompasses a great deal of mischief and brutality, which again comes with national greatness.

What should be noted is the high spirits of the competing demonstrations. People might have been haranguing each other, but they were also listening and behaving well. One might wonder if such a demonstration could take place in China. And before we knock the Chinese, we might also remember all the peaceful demonstrations that have been infiltrated and violently disrupted by police in the USA, such as the protests at the Republican Convention in New York City in 2004.

The online vigilantism is pretty disturbing, but there’s no evidence that it is officially sanctioned. What this vigilantism does bring into question is our own liberal notions regarding free speech. Should such threatening speech be censored? Should Google protect this women by blocking searches for her name?

Solving the injustices of the world are not easy, primarily because one person’s justice, be it freeing Tibet or censoring the Internet, is another’s injustice.

And as a typical provincial yahoo of an American, I couldn’t help but think of this as I watched the video.

“the Chinese are fiercely nationalistic, as befits a great nation. Their greatness also encompasses a great deal of mischief and brutality, which again comes with national greatness.”

What? Are you nuts? Jingoism,mischief and brutality are “great”? What the hell are you on about?

“online vigilantism is pretty disturbing, but there’s no evidence that it is officially sanctioned. What this vigilantism does bring into question is our own liberal notions regarding free speech. Should such threatening speech be censored?”

One of the drawbacks to nuking the bejesus out of the Chinese mainland is the prevailing winds are gonna blow those glowing clouds eastward across the Pacific, right back over the good ole U.S. of A.
Can anyone think of another reason why we shouldn’t nuke ’em from orbit?

On the upside, it would do wonders for overpopulation. Plus, if the old “nuclear winter” theory holds any water, the smoke from a global nuclear holocaust might offset global warming (I dunno, all those burning cities would also produce a lot of CO2).

All in all, giving some other species a chance to evolve might do the planet some good.

“One of the drawbacks to nuking the bejesus out of the Chinese mainland is the prevailing winds are gonna blow those glowing clouds eastward across the Pacific, right back over the good ole U.S. of A.
Can anyone think of another reason why we shouldn’t nuke ’em from orbit?”

Just how far would it blow over the US? Because if it’d only hit California, I’m in.

The Chinese are pretty adept at infiltrating US universities with “exchange students”. I remember reading an article a few years back in the Comics Journal by one such individual, about the history of man-hua (Chinese comics); it tried to pawn off excerpts of vicious, contemporary anti-Falun Gong propaganda comics as examples of historical works from the turn of the century or before. Nasty.

Interesting that this has become a mini-version of what is actually going on in China. The Tibetan student speaks her mind and the Chinese students respond with violence and intimidation.

You can be as nationalistic as you like, but fear tactics cross the line. I find many Americans annoyingly nationalistic, but I don’t have to worry about my own safety or that of my family by saying that.

I’m unclear why you reacted to my post with that comment. Did I say I supported internet manhunts? I wanted to post a link to another case involving internet bullies because I found it interesting and disturbing.

I have been reading this site for a long time although I don’t post often and I often enjoy your responses, so I was a bit surprised to see what seems like a mocking reaction from you.

Whenever reading my posts, following threads my scaly tail has dragged down, casting Tarot readings with the Devil as significator or corresponding with myself, it is wise to douse oneself with holy water, sacrifice a bullock and immediately open the thesaurus to “bitter”, “sardonic”, “ironic”, “satirical” “pain in the ass” (ask Teresa) and similar entries.

Reminds me of Russia’s ÐÐ°ÑˆÐ¸ (“Nashi” a.k.a. “Ours”) youth movement, which organizes to counter protest pretty much any other political group, in particular Kasparaov’s “Other Russia” party, although that is clearly orchestrated by the Putin regime, and this appears (so far) to be more spontaneous.

“One of the great attractions of patriotism — it fulfills our worst wishes. In the person of our nation we are able, vicariously, to bully and cheat. Bully and cheat, what’s more, with a feeling that we are profoundly virtuous.” — Aldous Huxley

apostrophe,apostrophe…..
The Mystery Man came over
An’ he said: “I’m outa-site!”
He said, for a nominal service charge,
I could reach nervonna t’nite
If I was ready, willing ‘n able
To pay him his regular fee
He would drop all the rest of his pressing affairs
And devote His Attention to me
But I said . . .
Look here brother,
Who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris?
(Now who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris?)
Look here brother,
Don’t you waste your time on me

The Mystery Man got nervous
An’ he fidget around a bit
He reached in the pocket of his Mystery Robe
An’ he whipped out a shaving kit
Now, I thought it was a razor
An’ a can of foamin’ goo
But he told me right then when the top popped open
There was nothin’ his box won’t do
With the oil of Afro-dytee
An’ the dust of the Grand Wazoo
He said:
“You might not believe this, little fella, but it’ll cure your Asthma too!”
An’ I said . . .
Look here brother,
Who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris?
(Now what kind of a geroo are you anyway?)
Look here brother,
Don’t you waste your time on me
Don’t waste yer time . . .

I’ve got troubles of my own, I said
An’ you can’t help me out
So take your meditations an’ your preparations
An’ ram it up yer snout
“BUT I GOT A KRISTL BOL!,” he said
An’ held it to the light
So I snatched it
All away from him
An’ I showed him how to do it right
I wrapped a newspaper ’round my head
So I’d look like I was Deep
I said some Mumbo Jumbos then
An’ told him he was goin’ to sleep
I robbed his rings
An’ pocket watch
An’ everything else I found
I had that sucker hypnotized
He couldn’t even make a sound
I proceeded to tell him his future then
As long as he was hanging around,
I said
“The price of meat has just gone up
An’ yer ol’ lady has just gone down . . . ”
Look here brother,
Who you jivin’ with that Cosmik Debris?
(Now is that a real poncho or is that a Sears poncho?)
Don’t you know,
You could make more money as a butcher,
So don’t you waste your time on me
(Don’t waste it, don’t waste your time on me . . . )
Ohm shonty, ohm shonty, ohm shonty-ohm
SSHONTAY

It is shocking to see some chinese students intimidating Ms. Wang. These thugs should be brought to justice and kicked out of this freedom loving country. I am a chinese myself and i am a moderate, but i found the intimidation for freedom of speech is unacceptable. It actually only makes the pro-china’s case worse. I hope the law enforcement will get involved and found out the culprits and punish them.

The International Campaign for Tibet said last week that a “patriotic education” work team had been sent to Drepung, and food and water supplies at the monasteries in Lhasa were running low as monks were prevented from leaving.

Patriotic education requires monks to do ritual denunciations of their spiritual leader, the exiled Dalai Lama, and accept the Chinese-appointed Panchen Lama.